News

Jun 03, 2023

TUES: Judge won't dismiss charges for armorer in "Rust" case, + More

Judge won't dismiss charges against movie armorer in fatal shooting by Alec Baldwin on film set — Morgan Lee, Associated Press A New Mexico judge told attorneys to "stay the course" on charges

Judge won't dismiss charges against movie armorer in fatal shooting by Alec Baldwin on film set — Morgan Lee, Associated Press

A New Mexico judge told attorneys to "stay the course" on charges including involuntary manslaughter against movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed in the shooting death of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin, rejecting Tuesday a request from defense counsel to dismiss charges.

The ruling from Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer during online proceedings sets the stage for lengthy evidentiary hearings, starting next week, on manslaughter and evidence-tampering charges. Gutierrez-Reed is the sole remaining defendant in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during the rehearsal on Oct. 21, 2021.

In April, prosecutors dropped charges against Baldwin, who was pointing a gun at Hutchins when it went off, killing her and injuring director Joel Souza. This left Gutierrez-Reed as the sole remaining defendant in the case. If convicted, she faces up to three years in prison.

An attorney for Gutierrez-Reed argued unsuccessfully Tuesday that the case had been compromised by changes in the prosecution team earlier this year, sloppiness with evidence and public statements by prosecutors that might interfere with the right to an impartial jury.

Sommer rejected the arguments and sided with prosecutors, who urged the court to move forward with a preliminary hearing that will decide whether evidence is sufficient to advance toward trial.

Prosecutors have said charges still could be refiled against Baldwin pending further investigation, including an ongoing independent examination by a firearms expert. The expert is examining the revolver fired in the fatal shooting, and other weapons and ammunition seized from the set.

Authorities have not yet determined how live ammunition found its way into the .45-caliber revolver, which was made by an Italian company that specializes in 19th century reproductions.

Baldwin has said the gun fired accidentally after he followed instructions to point it toward Hutchins, who was behind the camera. He said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the gun fired.

In April prosecutors commissioned additional weapons testing to investigate whether the hammer of the gun may have been intentionally modified.

"We don't have the firearms report yet, although they told me that it's forthcoming. I hope to have it by the end of the week," special prosecutor Kari Morrissey said Tuesday. "The causation issues as they relate to Mr. Baldwin and the functionality of the firearm do not create causation problems for Ms. Gutierrez. That is our legal opinion."

An August FBI report on the agency's analysis of the gun found that, as is common with firearms of that design, it could go off without pulling the trigger if force was applied to an uncocked hammer — such as by dropping the weapon.

The only way the testers could get it to fire was by striking the gun with a mallet while the hammer was down and resting on the cartridge, or by pulling the trigger while it was fully cocked. The gun eventually broke during the testing.

Separately, prosecutors withdrew a motion to shield the name of a witness from public disclosure as they pursue an evidence-tampering charge against Gutierrez-Reed.

Prosecutors say a witness is prepared to testify that Gutierrez-Reed handed off a small bag of narcotics to her after returning from an interview at a police station, despite concerns about being harassed or blacklisted in the entertainment industry.

"She has agreed not to pursue a protective order," Morrissey said of the witness.

Defense attorney Jason Bowles has called the evidence-tampering charge a vindictive attempt at "character assassination" by prosecutors.

In March of this year, "Rust" safety coordinator and assistant director David Halls pleaded no contest to a charge of unsafe handling of a firearm and received a suspended sentence of six months' probation.

He agreed to cooperate in the investigation of the fatal shooting and is listed as a possible witness in evidentiary hearings next week to decide whether the case can advance toward trial.

The filming of "Rust" resumed in April in Montana under an agreement with the cinematographer's widower, Matthew Hutchins, that makes him an executive producer.

Democratic lawmakers slam the lack of attorney access for asylum seekers in Border Patrol custody — Associated Press

Dozens of Democratic members of Congress asked the Biden administration Tuesday to end expedited screening of asylum seekers in Border Patrol custody, calling it a "rushed practice" that has allowed little access to legal counsel.

As the administration prepared to launch speedy screenings at Border Patrol holding facilities this spring , authorities pledged access to counsel would be a key difference from a Trump-era version of the policy. So far, that promise appears unfulfilled.

A coterie of involved attorneys estimated that perhaps 100 migrants secured formal representation in the first three months of the policy, The Associated Press reported last month, and only hundreds more have received informal advice through one-time phone calls ahead of the expedited screenings. That represents a mere fraction of the thousands of expedited screenings since early April, though authorities have not provided a precise count.

The letter to the Homeland Security and Justice Departments, signed by 13 senators and 53 members of the House of Representatives, said conducting the "credible fear" interviews as little as 24 hours after arrival in a holding facility was "inherently problematic," especially without access to counsel.

"Affording people fair adjudication — including adequate time to obtain evidence, prepare one's case, and obtain and work with counsel — is particularly key for individuals fleeing life-threatening harm or torture," the letter states.

Those signing include Alex Padilla of California, chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, Bob Menendez of New Jersey, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Rep. Nanette Barragán of California, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

The Homeland Security Department said it has taken significant steps to ensure a "safe and efficient" process for asylum seekers that includes access to phone booths for consultations with legal counsel and others.

Also Tuesday, the National Immigrant Justice Center said it would no longer serve asylum seekers in Border Patrol custody "after more than two months attempting to overcome obstruction by the Biden administration that made it impossible to provide meaningful legal information and representation." The group says it has represented about 30 people under the new policy.

The administration ramped up the speedy screenings as it ended pandemic-related asylum restrictions, known as Title 42 authority, and introduced new rules that make it far more difficult for people to seek asylum without applying online outside the U.S. or first seeking protection in a country they pass through.

The percentage of people who passed asylum screenings fell to 60% during the first half of July, after the fast-track process picked up, down from 77% the second half of March, just before it began.

The administration has faced criticism from immigration advocates that the new rules ignore obligations under U.S. and international law to provide asylum and from those backing restrictions who say authorities are acting too generously through the online appointment system, which admits up to 1,450 people a day, and parole for up to 30,000 a month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Environmentalists sue to stop Utah potash mine that produces sought-after crop fertilizer — Sam Metz, Associated Press

Environmentalists filed a lawsuit on Monday to prevent the construction of a new potash mine that they say would devastate a lake ecosystem in the drought-stricken western Utah desert.

The complaint against the Bureau of Land Management is the latest development in the battle over potash in Utah, which holds some of the United States' largest deposits of the mineral used by farmers to fertilize crops worldwide.

Potash, or potassium sulfate, is currently mined in regions including Carlsbad, New Mexico and at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats, where the Bureau of Land Management also oversees a private company's potash mining operations.

The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance argues in Monday's complaint that, in approving a potash mining operation at Sevier Lake — a shallow saltwater lake about halfway between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas — the Bureau of Land Management failed to consider alternatives that would cause fewer environmental impacts. They say the project could imperil the regional groundwater aquifer already plagued by competing demands from surrounding cities, farms and a nearby wildlife refuge.

"Industrial development of this magnitude will eliminate the wild and remote nature of Sevier Lake and the surrounding lands, significantly pair important habitat for migratory birds, and drastically affect important resource values including air quality, water quality and quantity and visual resources," the group's attorneys write in the complaint.

The Bureau of Land Management's Utah office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The complaint comes months after Peak Minerals, the company developing the Sevier Lake mine, announced it had secured a $30 million loan from an unnamed investor. In a press release, leaders of the company and the private equity firm that owns it touted the project's ability "to support long-term domestic fertilizer availability and food security in North America in a product."

Demand for domestic sources of potash, which the United States considers a critical mineral, has spiked since the start of the War in Ukraine as sanctions and supply chain issues disrupted exports from Russia and Belarus — two of the world's primary potash producers. As a fertilizer, potash lacks of some of climate change concerns of nitrogen- and phosphorous-based fertilizers, which require greenhouse gases to produce or can leach into water sources. As global supply has contracted and prices have surged, potash project backers from Brazil to Canada renewed pushes to expand or develop new mines.

That was also the case in Utah. Before the March announcement of $30 million in new funds, the Sevier Playa Potash project had been on hold due to a lack of investors. In 2020, after the Bureau of Land Management approved the project, the mining company developing it pulled out after failing to raise necessary capital.

Peak Minerals did not immediately respond to request for comment on the lawsuit.

In a wet year, Sevier Lake spans 195 square miles (506 square kilometers) in an undeveloped part of rural Utah and is part of the same prehistoric lakebed as the Great Salt Lake. The lake remains dry the majority of the time but fills several feet in wet years and serves as a stop-over for migratory birds.

The project is among many fronts in which federal agencies are fighting environmentalists over public lands and how to balance conservation concerns with efforts to boost domestic production of minerals critical for goods ranging from agriculture to batteries to semiconductors. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance opposed the project throughout the environmental review process, during which it argued the Bureau of Land Management did not consider splitting the lake by approving mining operations on its southern half and protecting a wetland on its northern end.

Lujan Grisham cabinet secretary is retiring from the agency that serves seniors – Santa Fe New Mexican, KUNM News

The cabinet secretary for the New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Services Department is retiring.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham made the announcement Monday about Katrina Hotrum-Lopez. It was also the secretary’s last day, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Hotrum-Lopez said in a statement it was a privilege to work in the department, where she has been since 2019. Previously she was director of behavioral health services at Bernalillo County.

The governor thanked Hotrum-Lopez for her work on behalf of New Mexico seniors, including COVID-19 vaccine distribution. She also worked with legislators to pass a bill removing the social security tax.

Gina DeBlassie, a health policy advisor for Lujan Grisham, will serve as acting secretary. The Santa Fe New Mexican notes this is the latest in a long series of departures of cabinet secretaries under this administration.

Defendant pleads not guilty in shotgun death of police officer in New Mexico - Associated Press

A man accused of shooting an Alamogordo, New Mexico, police officer in the face with a sawed-off shotgun during a foot chase pleaded not guilty to charges of first degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, resisting an officer and more at a court hearing Monday.

Dominic De La O appeared at a courthouse in Alamogordo to enter the plea through his attorney. Del la O will remain incarcerated pending trial after state District Court Judge John P. Sugg denied release based on concerns for public safety and a recommendation by prosecutors.

Officer Anthony Ferguson, an 11-year veteran of the Alamogordo Police Department, was severely wounded on July 15 in the aftermath of a traffic stop of a vehicle driving without lights, with police giving chase after the driver fled on foot. Ferguson died the next day.

An account of the deadly confrontation by State Police says that De La O fired at Ferguson while fleeing. De la O was shot in the leg by police as he continued to flee to a local home, where he was arrested.

Biden goes west to talk about his administration's efforts to combat climate change - Associated Press

President Joe Biden will travel to Arizona, New Mexico and Utah next week and is expected to talk about his administration's efforts to combat climate change as the region endures a brutally hot summer with soaring temperatures, the White House said Monday.

Biden is expected to discuss the Inflation Reduction Act, America's most significant response to climate change, and the push toward more clean energy manufacturing. The act aims to spur clean energy on a scale that will bend the arc of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

July has been the hottest month ever recorded. Biden last week announced new steps to protect workers in extreme heat, including measures to improve weather forecasts and make drinking water more accessible.

Members of Biden's administration also are fanning out over the next few weeks around the anniversary of the landmark climate change and health care legislation to extol the administration's successes as the Democratic president seeks reelection in 2024.

Vice President Kamala Harris heads to Wisconsin this week with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to talk about broadband infrastructure investments. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack goes to Oregon to highlight wildfire defense grants, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will go to Illinois and Texas, and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona heads to Maryland to talk about career and technical education programs.

The Inflation Reduction Act included roughly $375 billion over a decade to combat climate change and capped the cost of a month's supply of insulin at $35 for older Americans and other Medicare beneficiaries. It also helps an estimated 13 million Americans pay for health care insurance by extending subsidies provided during the coronavirus pandemic.

The measure is paid for by new taxes on large companies and stepped-up IRS enforcement of wealthy individuals and entities, with additional funds going to reduce the federal deficit.

APD releases use of force report – KUNM News

The Albuquerque Police Department today released its annual use of force report, saying there has been a decline in incidents.

In a news release, officials said there were 626 cases last year, which is down by 18 percent from the year before.

However, according to the 2020 use of force report, from 2016 to 2019 APD only averaged 656 cases a year, making last year only about 4 percent lower than that average.

APD has been under a consent decree with the Department of Justice since 2014 after an investigation into the police’s use of force.

The current report can be viewed on APD’s website.